According to the Guardian Daily, witnesses to the stampede that left more than 1000 people dead at this year’s major Hajj pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia on Thursday blamed the Saudi authorities and said they were afraid of continuing the rituals fearing more loss of life.The worst tragedy in 25 years at the annual Muslim pilgrimage occurred on Thursday during the symbolic stoning of the devil at Mina, just outside the holy city of Mecca.Saudi Arabia’s latest Hajj disaster raises serious safety questions.Huge numbers of pilgrims alone do not explain recurrence of fatal accidents – state must take blame for poor planning and incompetence.At least 717 people were killed and 863 people were hurt (according to official Saudi statistics), spurring King Salman to order “a revision” of Hajj organization while authorities started to investigate the disaster.The Saudi health minister, Khalid al-Falih, earlier pointed a finger of blame at the dead, saying the pilgrims had been undisciplined and not followed movement instructions, but the witnesses disagreed.“There was crowding. The police had closed all entrances and exits to the pilgrims’ camp, leaving only one,” said Ahmed Abu Bakr, a 45-year-old Libyan who escaped the stampede with his mother.He added that police at the scene appeared inexperienced. “They don’t even know the roads and the places around here,” he said as others nodded in agreement.One outspoken critic of redevelopment at the holy sites said despite the large numbers, police were not properly trained and lacked the language skills for communicating with foreign pilgrims, who make up the majority of those on the Hajj.

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